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W2 not aligned on preprinted forms

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 4, 2022
13 replies
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Is anyone having trouble printing 2021 W-2's on preprinted forms? The bottom copy is aligned fine, but the top one is at least a line off. If I adjust the alignment, it throws the good one off.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll

Best answer by RenjolynC

Thanks for getting back to us here, jens9.

I'd like to share some steps to help you with the alignment.

When the alignment is off, this can be caused by a variety of reasons. Since all printers are different, many of the troubleshooting steps below require you to have knowledge of your particular printer's setup. If you're unsure of the process, please contact your IT person or the printer manufacturer's tech support directly.

Before we start, please make sure to perform the following:

Update your QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release.
Make sure your computer is connected to the printer and that the printer software is installed.
For specific printing error messages, you may search the QuickBooks Support site for the exact error.

If your printer prints fine outside QuickBooks, then let's proceed with using the Print & PDF Repair Tool from the QuickBooks Tool Hub. This fixes most of the common printing issues.

You can check out Step 3 in this article for the other solution: Resolve printing issues.

Otherwise, reach out to our Payroll Support Team to further investigate what's causing the alignment issue on the preprinted form. Please take note that our support hours for QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Plus starts from M-F 6 AM to 6 PM. For Enterprise, we are available any time, any day.

Here's how you can reach out to us:

In your QuickBooks Desktop program, go to Help > QuickBooks Desktop Help.
In the Have a Question window, click the Contact Us link at the bottom.
From the Contact Us page, select any topics.
Under Here's how to connect with a QuickBooks expert section, click the Start a Message or Get Phone Number button.

If you want to contact us using a direct phone number, you can get the information here.

Please let me know if you have more questions regarding the payroll forms or need help with other features in your account. I'll be around to help you out some more. Have a good day ahead.

Show previous replies

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Wolf914

I have the same issue year after year and here we go again in for the 2023 pay year. I have to call customer support at least 3 times each year. We fixed it 3 years ago but I cant remember how. I never got the issue resolved last year and had to print each w2 on one form. I do not know why they do not just make it where you can align the top and bottom separately. Not sure it's worth it anymore.

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Jacob8up

So found this forum having the exact same issue (either top or bottom panel was aligned, but never both) even though I've not had this issue historically - but tax forms only come around once a year.

If I changed the alignment offset, it would just change which one was out of alignment. Saw some notes about updating the driver and found the root of the issue. When installing the printer to use for the first time whenever I would have done it I just added it via the printer and devices page of Windows since it completes it super easy once it is connected to wifi. HOWEVER, it seems that in doing this, it uses some generic Microsoft driver that isn't the third party printer's driver software (I think somewhere online said it at least used to not do this or something, so could be cause for why this is happening NOW). For me the default driver it used was called "Microsoft IPP" (can find under device manager as to what driver it is using).

So in my case, I have a Brother printer, so I went to their website and downloaded the full software package for my printer (adds an app to the computer, offers fax help, etc) around 460 MB in all. I didn't previously have this software on my computer. I then used the Brother Application (NOT the Microsoft Printer & Devices page) to add my printer which installed it with the brother driver vs the Microsoft IPP driver. Printed a new page after removing the alignment adjustment I'd previously made and it printed perfectly on the top AND bottom panel.

Windows made it so easy to add the printer, I never stopped to think it wasn't going out and finding the Third Party driver to install it - looking back, seems so obvious.